




























Class JHTliQA 



Copyright^ 0 _ 

croPYF.icmr deposed 































* 












\ 










IS CHRISTIANITY THE 

ONLY TRUE RELIGION? 


(One of a series of subjects under the 
general head, “The Mysteries of 
Religion Simplified.”) 

—By— 

JAMES MEADOWS McLESKEY 

Author of “Immortality,” Etc. 



Cumberland Presbyterian Pub. House 
Nashville, Tenn. 



Copyright, 1923, by 
James M. McLeskey 



MM 12 1923 


©C1A704791 


•He l 


FOREWORD 


This book contains only one of the 
authors series of subjects under 
the general head, “The Mysteries of 
Religion Simplified.” Our purpose 
in this and in the entire series 
is to strengthen the faith of those who 
are the victims of sincere doubt, by pre¬ 
senting evidence to assure them that 
the claims of the Christian religion will 
successfully stand the acid test of in¬ 
vestigation and hard reason. While these 
subjects are adapted to people of all 
ages, our primary purpose is to an- 



swer for young people the perplexing 
religious questions which often confront 
them in those adolescent years when 
their religious convictions are often un¬ 
settled for want of a proper knowledge 
of religious facts. Young people often 
become the victims of false teachers 
during this unsettled age, when with 
open minds they eagerly scan the eccle¬ 
siastical shore, seeking for a safe place 
to tie. Too many people have suffered 
unnecessary distress over questions 
which could have been answered in a 
moment by those who understand. Set¬ 
tled convictions and triumphant faith 


are necessary to religious happiness and 
spiritual power. 

A list of this entire series on “The 
Mysteries of Religion” will be found in 
the back of this volume. We trust that 
they may be of help to any who may be 
perplexed on questions of religion. We 
are especially hopeful that they may 
find their way into the hands of many 
young people to protect them from the 
tragedy of a flickering faith. 


CONTENTS 


Page. 

Is Christianity the Only True Reli¬ 
gion? . 11 

The Teacher's Responsibility.12 

Attitude of False Religions.13 

To Camouflage the Dividing Line?. .15 
The Dual Enemy.19 

By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know 
Them. 21 

Jesus Established the Truthfulness of 

His Claims.32 

The Resurrection, a Test of His 

Claims.34 

His Death .40 

His Resurrection .42 

What Became of His Body ?.43 

Negative Testimony: 

Sleeping Witnesses . 45 

The Roman Law .46 















The Explanation. 47 

Positive Testimony: 

The Women .48 

The Two Disciples.49 

Thomas.50 

Paul.54 

More Than Five Hundred Brethren 55 

The Angel.56 

The Boldness of the Apostles.58 

Time of the Announcement.59 

Those to Whom the Announcement 
Was Made.61 

Monumental Evidence.62 

The Christian Sabbath.62 

History.*.63 

Summary.67 

Conclusion.68 

Final Appeal.68 

















“Other refuge have I none, 

Hangs my helpless soul on Thee. 
Leave, Ah! leave me not alone, 
Still support and comfort me.” 

—Charles Wesley. 






IS CHRISTIANITY THE ONLY TRUE 

RELIGION? 


I well remember when this question 
arose in my history class when I was 
in school. While studying the religions 
of different peoples and countries, the 
question was asked, “Have not the 
heathen as good right to their views as 
the Christians, and are they not just 
as apt to be correct ?” One can imagine 
the problem which such a question 
would present to a child, and the shock 
which it might inflict upon his faith. 

11 



IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


The Teacher’s Responsibility 

It is a dangerous teacher, either in 
the literary school or in the pulpit, who 
seeks to strip Christianity of those out¬ 
standing characteristics in both its 
Bible and its Christ which so rigidly dis¬ 
tinguish Christianity from heathendom. 

Christian parents should look into the 
theology of those who are to teach their 
children. The youth of our land are 

entitled to a serious consideration of the 
question before us, because we are con¬ 
fronted with a dual enemy—the enemy 
within and the enemy without. 


12 




ONLY TRUE RELIGION? 


Attitude of False Religions 

False religions have always been jeal¬ 
ous as Christianity would encroach upon 
their territory, and have assumed an 
attitude of resistance. For this reason, 
missionaries have had to be very care¬ 
ful to avoid controversies. However, 
some missionaries, by their tactfulness 
have been able to overcome this preju¬ 
dice and to win the good feeling of com¬ 
munities. 

It is true that our missionaries have 
had access to the many foreign coun¬ 
tries, but we have not heard of many 
invitations being extended by the heath- 

13 




IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


en religions (as such) of those coun¬ 
tries. Their free access in most cases 
was due to their medical and other ma¬ 
terial inducements, and to the protection - 
of governmental treaties. 

The false religions have changed 
their methods of defense as strategy 
seepied to demand. But they are still 
resisting. In many cases the method 
has been that of literal oppression. If 
one will read “The Foreign Missionary,” 
by Arthur J. Brown, he will learn of the 
many missionaries who have faced 
hatred and persecution. He describes 
the pathetic experience of the great Jud- 

14 




ONLY TRUE RELIGION? 


son, imprisoned in Burma, with thirty- 
two pounds of chains on his ankles, and 
his feet bound to a bamboo pole. He 
tells also of the martyrs’ graves in In¬ 
dia, China, Africa, Persia, Turkey, and 
the South Sea Islands, and of how mis¬ 
sionaries have been insolently denied the 
rights guaranteed by treaty to every 
American citizen. 

Oppression has always seemed to fan 

Christianity’s flame. So, what will be 
their next method of resistance? 

To Camouflage the Dividing Line? 

If they could remove the appearance 
of contrast, and thus induce the world 

15 




IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


to call them systems of religion, instead 
of calling them heathen, would it not 
be a victory for them? 

Would they copy the methods and 
claims of Christianity in an effort to 
have the world believe that there is but 
little difference, and hence no necessity 
for Christianity’s determined mission¬ 
ary efforts? 

Some are suspicious that at least 
some false religions may adopt this 
method of resistance if they have not 
already done so. 

The similarity between the Young 
Men’s Buddhist Association of Japan 

16 




ONLY TRUE RELIGION? 


and the Young Men's Christian Asso¬ 
ciation has encouraged this suspicion. 

I quote “Primers of the Faith," by 
James M. Gray, D.D., Fleming H. Revell 
Company, publishers: 

“That Mohammedanism has borrowed 
from her (Christianity) may be readily 
granted because of its later date, but 
what of Buddhism? it may be asked. 
We approximate an answer to this 
question by recalling that later accounts 
of the ministry of Buddha contain per¬ 
sonal legends of his miraculous birth, 
his presentation in the temple, his 
temptation in the wilderness, etc., 

17 





IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


which are not found in the earlier ones, 
at once awakening the suspicion that 

they are copied from the Gospels and 

attributed to Buddha.” 

This camouflaging of the dividing line 

between Christianity and its enemies is 
not to be found alone in the foreign 
field, but Pantheism, similar to that of 
Brahma, and Unitarianism, akin to that 
of Mohammed, have taken root in our 
own country and are fostered by sects, 

classing themselves with, and competing 
with, the evangelical churches of our 
land. 


18 





ONLY TRUE RELIGION? 


A Dual Enemy 

Our youth deserve to be warned of 
the tactics of the enemy without, and 
certainly we must not close our eyes to 
the methods of the enemy at home. At 
one time Christianity was confronted 
with the bare-faced rationalist in the 
open field of conflict. The enemy fought 

i 

a losing battle. So the modern method 
of attack is similar to the method that 
we have just been describing. They 
seek to camouflage the dividing line be¬ 
tween Christianity and heathendom. 
They follow the process of Biblical sur¬ 
gery, and would remove those parts of 

19 




IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


the Bible which show the contrast be¬ 
tween Jesus and pagan teachers, the re¬ 
sult of which would be to reduce the 
contrast in importance between His 
principles and those of the false reli¬ 
gions. 

If Christianity is to be classed among 
the religions of the world, then our mis¬ 
sionary efforts are presumptuous. 

i 

We have already treated the ques¬ 
tion, “The Authenticity of the Bible,” in 
another volume. We will now assemble 

the evidences of contrast. 


20 




ONLY TRUE RELIGION? 


“By Their Fruits 
Ye Shall Know Them” 

Civilization follows in the path of the 
Bible. Christianity has rescued woman¬ 
hood from the barbarous superstition 
and slavery of heathendom, and has 
placed her in her rightful place. Chris¬ 
tianity has offered the physician to 
heal, while heathendom has been known 
to encourage brutal, inhuman and un¬ 
reasonable tortures in a barbarous ef¬ 
fort to dispel spirits. Christianity en¬ 
courages a living sacrifice, while some 
forms of heathen religion have encour¬ 
aged putting human beings to death in 

21 




IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


sacrifice to their gods. Christianity of¬ 
fers a soft cradle, tender love and care, 
while false religions often encouraged 
mothers to cast their babies to the croc¬ 
odiles as a religious rite. 

“To glut the shark and crocodile 

A mother brought her infant here; 
She saw its tender, playful smile, 

She shed not one maternal tear: 

She threw it on a watery bier: 

With grinding teeth, sea monsters 
tore 

The smiling infant that she bore. 
She shrank not once its cries to hear !” 


—Dr. John Leyden. 
22 




I 


1 1 - ",. ' ■ - ■■■ ■ - , ■ 

ONLY TRUE RELIGION? 


Is argument necessary to convince 
one that such religion is sophistry ? 

Dr. A. T. Pierson, in “Many Infallible 
Proofs/' published by Fleming H. Revell 
Company, tells of the difference between 
the Bible and the sacred books of false 
religions. I quote: 

“How grand a fact it is, in favor of 
the Bible, that not one scientific error, 
blunder or absurdity has ever been 
found there! Can the sacred books of 
other religions endure that test? Apply 
this touchstone to the Koran, the Shas- 
tra, the Zendavesta, or the teachings of 


23 




IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


the wisest and best of uninspired men. 
Compare Moses with Zoroaster and Con¬ 
fucius, Seneca and Socrates, Plato and 
Pythagoras, Anaxagoras and Aristotle. 

When the ancient religious philosophies 
touch the Bible-theme of creation, they 
abound in sheer absurdities! Put the 
first chapter of Genesis beside the Hindu 
idea of the universe, which we might 
write out thus: 

“ ‘Millions and millions of cycles ago, 
this world came to be. It was made a flat 
triangular plane with high hills and 
mountains. It exists in several stories, 
and the whole mass is held up on the 

24 




ONLY TRUE RELIGION? 


heads of elephants with their tails 
turned out, and their feet rest on the 
shell of an immense tortoise, and the 
tortoise on the coil of a great snake; 
and when these elephants shake them¬ 
selves, they make the earth quake.' ” 

A careful comparison will reveal those 

points of contrast (too numerous to 

( 

catalogue here) which prove, beyond 
doubt, the superiority of Christianity. 

The same author gives us the words 
of the first Napoleon. I quote; 

“While in banishment at St. Helena, 
conversing with General Bertrand, who 
contended that Jesus was simply a man 

25 




IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


of great genius and power to command 
and control, the exiled emperor said: T 
know men, and I tell you that Jesus 
Christ is not a man! Superficial minds 
see a resemblance between Christ and 
the founders of empires and the gods of 
other religions. That resemblance does 
not exist. There is between Christian¬ 
ity and whatever other religions, the dis¬ 
tance of infinity! We can say to the 
authors of every other religion, You are 
neither gods nor the agents of the 
Deity. You are but the missionaries of 

falsehood, moulded from the same clay 
with the rest of mortals. You are made 


26 




ONLY TRUE RELIGION? 


with all the passions and vices insep¬ 
arable from them. Your temples and 
your priests proclaim your origin V Pa¬ 
ganism was never accepted as truth by 
the wise men of Greece, neither by Soc¬ 
rates, Pythagoras, Plato, Anaxagoras 
nor Pericles. Paganism is the work of 
man. One can here read but our im¬ 
becility. What do these gods, so boast¬ 
ful, know more than other mortals— 
these legislators, these priests? Abso¬ 
lutely nothing.” 

The superiority of Christianity is not 
only apparent to Christians, but leading 
citizens of non-Christian lands have 

27 




IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


warmly eulogized Christianity, after 
having seen a demonstration of its vir¬ 
tues and of its fruits. 

“The Missionary and His Critics/' by 
Rev. James L. Barton, contains extracts 
from addresses, in which Christianity 
and Christian missionaries are highly 
eulogized by the following distinguished 
statesmen and leading citizens of non- 
Christian lands: 

Judge Varado Rao Avergal, B. A., B. 
L., Assistant Sessions Judge of Madura, 
says that the Hindus are not so blind 
or bigoted as not to recognize the many 
good results flowing from the adoption 

28 





ONLY TRUE RELIGION? 


of Christianity in some of their commu¬ 
nities in Southern India. 

W. W. Subramania, Editor, speaks of 
the silent and wonderful revolution 
which Christianity is bringing about in 
the minds of the people of India. 

Mr. Tirumalia Pillai, Special Deputy 
Collector of India, says that the general 
impression was that the fact of a man 
being a Christian was a guarantee to 
his truth-speaking and good conduct. 
He thinks that India cannot be suffi¬ 
ciently thankful for the work of the 
Christian missionaries. 


These facts are gathered from ad- 

29 




IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


dresses delivered by the above promi¬ 
nent men before the American Board 
Deputation at Madura, India. 

In the same volume we find strong 
words of praise from a non-Christian 
Japanese and an educated Hindu. The 
last-named feels that the only way for 
the Hindus to rise in the scale of na¬ 
tions is through Christianity, and Chris¬ 
tianity alone. 

So we see that Christianity is able to 
stand upon its merits, and our estimate 
of its virtues is not simply a matter of 
bias growing out of inheritance or 
training. 


30 




ONLY TRUE RELIGION? 


It is right to say that even false re¬ 
ligions generally have some phases of 
good. They generally teach some splen¬ 
did lessons. On the other hand, a large 
volume would be required to describe 
their many evil teachings, and their 
consequent harvests of misfortune, se¬ 
rious enough to prove them false. 

The righteousness of heathendom was 
often challenged in Old Testament 
times, and the true God vindicated, as in 
the notable case of Elijah and the 
prophets of Baal. 


31 




IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


Jesus Established the 
Truthfulness of His Claims 

Jesus did not recognize the authority 
of competitive religions. He firmly de¬ 
clared : “He that is not with me is 
against me” (Luke 11: 23). He does 
not ask recognition. He demands alle¬ 
giance. He never intended that our 
faith should be credulous. He made His 
claims and stamped them with a chal¬ 
lenge which established their truthful¬ 
ness. What was His challenge? “De¬ 
stroy this temple, and I will raise it 
again in three days.” His own body 
was the temple to which He referred. 


32 




ONLY TRUE RELIGION? 


The challenge involved not only His res¬ 
urrection power, but also His power to 
prophesy. For either to have failed 
would have removed the capstone from 
the arch of His claims. 

Who else ever threw out such a chal¬ 
lenge and then backed it up ? Did 
Buddha? No. Did Confucius? No. 
Did Zoroaster? No. Did any pagan 
teacher, or any other human being? 
No. Did the world accept the chal¬ 
lenge? I think that we can prove that 
it did. 


33 




IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


The Resurrection a 
Test of His Claims 

We are sure that the apostles regard¬ 
ed the resurrection as the test of His 

claims, because the burden of the apos¬ 
tolic preaching was Christ and the res¬ 
urrection. This was one of the subjects 

which Peter discussed in his sermon on 
the day of Pentecost. It must have been 
very convincing to the people of that 
time, as three thousand were converted. 

Paul considered the resurrection a 
test case. Hear his own words: 

“And if Christ be not risen, then is 


34 




ONLY TRUE RELIGION? 


our preaching vain, and your faith is 
also vain. 

“Yea, and we are found false wit¬ 
nesses of God; because we have testified 
of God that he raised up Christ: whom 
he raised not up, if so be that the dead 
rise not. 

“For if the dead rise not, then is not 
Christ raised: 

“And if Christ be not raised, your 

faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 

“Then they also which are fallen 
asleep in Christ are perished. 

“If in this life only we have hope in 
Christ, we are of all men most miser¬ 
able. 


85 




IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


“But now is Christ risen from the 
dead, and become the first fruits of 
them that slept.” 

His enemies accepted the resurrection 
as a test case, as was shown by the 
manner in which they guarded His body 
after His crucifixion. They accepted 
His challenge because this was one of 
the charges upon which He was con¬ 
victed and crucified. Listen to the 

charges of the false witnesses: 

“We heard him say, I will destroy 
this temple that is made with hands, 
and within three days I will build 
another made without hands” (Mark 
14: 58). 


36 




ONLY TRUE RELIGION? 


“This fellow said, I am able to de¬ 
stroy the temple of God, and to build it 
in three days” (Matt. 26: 61). 

They considered such a claim blas¬ 
phemy, because they thought it was 
claiming divine power. In other words, 
in that interpretation they admit that 
one with such power is divine. At first 
they thought that Jesus referred to the 
temple-building in Jerusalem. But Je¬ 
sus proposed to them a stronger test 
than His enemies understood. It seems, 
however, that they finally learned that 
He referred to His body, from the words 
of the sacrilegious mob at the cross, who 

37 




IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


wagged their heads and reviled Him, 

saying, “Thou that destroyest the tem¬ 
ple, and buildest it in three days, save 
thyself, . . (Matt. 27: 40). 

Whether or not this indicates their 
correct understanding, it is of itself a 
demand that He save Himself, and the 
challenge implies a test for His claims. 
In your own mind, if one should make 
certain claims, and should offer to stake 
those claims upon his power to prophesy 
the details of his death, and the exact 
time when he would demonstrate for 
you his power over his own death, would 
you not consider it a reasonable test? 


38 




ONLY TRUE RELIGION? 


I would. I ask again, Did any pagan 
teacher ever with success subject his 
claims to such a test? No; certainly 
not! 

Then, if it was accepted as the test 
of His claims, may we not reasonably 
pass judgment, according to whether He 
met the terms of the challenge? 

Then, if Jesus was crucified and failed 
to rise from the dead, we must admit 
that our faith is vain. On the other 
hand, if Jesus was crucified and rose 
from the dead on the third day, then 
His claims are true, and Christianity 
is essentially THE RELIGION, because 

39 




IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


one of His positive claims was, “They 
that are not with me are against me,” 
and this necessarily excludes all reli¬ 
gions except Christianity. 

The question is, Was He crucified, and 
did He rise from the dead, according to 
the Scriptures? 

We have the first premise; now proof 
is necessary to establish the second. If 
the proof can be produced, then we will 
be ready for the conclusion. 

His Death 

We can be sure that Jesus really died, 

because His enemies demanded His 

death, and it is plain that Pilate, the 

40 




- ■ ■■ 1 -— ■ ■ — ■ — ' 

ONLY TRUE RELIGION? 


Roman governor, granted their request. 

They not only nailed Him to the cross, 
but thrust a spear into His side, from 
which came blood and water. 

We are told that Pilate refused to al¬ 
low Joseph of Arimathsea to take the 
body until a final investigation was made 
to be sure that He was really dead. 
His body was perfumed, shrouded and 
placed to rest in the tomb. Not only 
does the Bible assure us of these things, 
but one who does not accept the Bible 
can learn from history, outside the 
Bible, that Jesus was really crucified. 
Celsus, Porphyry, Julian the Apostate, 

41 




IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


Josephus and Pliny are among those 
who tell us of His death. 

His Resurrection 

I am sure that people generally agree 
with us that Jesus was really crucified, 
but some may be doubtful as to His res¬ 
urrection. 

Now let us assemble the evidence, and 
see if we are not compelled to admit that 
Jesus arose from the dead according to 
the Scriptures. The very people who 
accepted His challenge by crucifying 
Him, watched His tomb, hoping to see 
the total collapse of His claims. They 
were careful enough to place about the 

42 




ONLY TRUE RELIGION? 


sepulcher an armed guard of sixty well- 
trained soldiers, because they knew that 
He prophesied that He would rise on the 
third day, and this was their method of 
preventing the disciples from taking 
any advantage and making false claims. 

Since we must admit that His dead 
body was in the tomb, being carefully 
guarded by the soldiers, it might help 
us to put the question this way: 

What Became of His Body? 

We have conflicting testimony. Chris¬ 
tianity testifies that He arose from the 

dead according to His prophecy, and 
has its witnesses. The enemies of 

43 




IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


Christ denied that He arose from the 
dead, and they had their witnesses. 
Their witnesses were the sixty armed 
soldiers whom they had guarding the 
body of Christ, for the very purpose of 
preventing the disciples from stealing 
the body. Now, if they deny His res¬ 
urrection, they certainly ought to be 
able to produce the body, with sixty 
armed men watching it. 

NEGATIVE TESTIMONY 
The Guards 

Now, what is the testimony of the 
guards? Here it is: “His disciples 

44 





ONLY TRUE RELIGION? 


came by night, and stole him away while 
we slept.” That was the best explana¬ 
tion that the enemies of Jesus had to 
offer. 

Now let us examine this testimony. 
Sleeping Witnesses 

They presume to tell that the body 
was stolen, and go so far as to tell who 
did the work, and at the same time ac¬ 
knowledge that they were asleep when 
it occurred. If they were sleeping so 
soundly that the great stone could be 
rolled from the tomb, and the body 
taken without waking one out of the 

sixty, how did they know who did the 

45 




IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


work? Would a civil court permit a man 
to testify as a witness if he should first 
acknowledge that he was sound asleep 
during the whole affair? That this 
guard lied is too patent for argument. 
But, since we have begun the examina¬ 
tion, let us go a little further. 

The Roman Law 

The Roman law demanded the life of 
soldiers who went to sleep on guard. 
Now, what do you think of sixty being 
asleep at the same moment, and that at 
the risk of their lives—and especially at 
that particular moment? Can you be¬ 
lieve it? 


46 




ONLY TRUE RELIGION? 


But the interesting part is, they were 
not punished. Nor was any official 
search made for the body, nor for the 
thief. Why? Because they knew full 
well that no one—especially the dis¬ 
heartened disciples—had the nerve to 
pass through a guard of sixty armed sol¬ 
diers to steal the body that they were 
guarding. 

The Explanation 

We find the explanation in Matt. 28: 
11-15, where we are told that the 
guard went in haste to the city, and told 

the chief priests “all the things that 
were done. ,, We learn that they were 

47 




IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


bribed with “large money” to say, “His 
disciples came by night, and stole him 
away while we slept.” They accepted 
the bribe after being promised that they 
should not be punished. 

POSITIVE TESTIMONY 

We have heard the negative testi¬ 
mony, now let us hear the witnesses 
who give us positive testimony. 

The Women 

The women who went into the sepul¬ 
cher, and found that the body was not 
there, went away in sorrow. When they 
had gone a short distance, they met Je- 

48 




ONLY TRUE RELIGION? 


sus and heard Him say, “All hail.” They 
“came and held Him by the feet, and 
worshipped him”. Those feet had been 
wounded with hammer and nails. Could 
these women have had any difficulty in 
identifying them? They saw the face 
upon which their eyes had looked many 
times before, and they heard that tender 
voice whose messages of comfort had 
doubtless blessed them in times of sor¬ 
row. I do not believe they were mis¬ 
taken. Do you ? 

The Two Disciples 

Two disciples were on their way to 
Emmaus, when the risen Saviour over- 

49 




IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


took them, talked to them, upbraided 
them, and expounded the Scriptures to 
them. He broke bread with them that 
evening. They recognized Him, and in 
their joy they returned to Jerusalem to 
tell their brethren. They found the 
eleven gathered together, and while they 
were relating what occurred on the way 
to Emmaus and in the village, “Jesus 
himself stood in the midst of them, and 
saith unto them, Peace be unto you”. 

Thomas 

Thomas was certainly not an eager 
witness. He refused to believe without 
evidence. Jesus provided all of the evi- 

50 




ONLY TRUE RELIGION? 


dence that he needed, and Thomas ad¬ 
mitted His deity when the evidence was 
presented; so different from the sleep¬ 
ing witnesses who lied to keep from ad¬ 
mitting that the claims of Jesus were 
true, after He had met the terms of the 
challenge which His enemies had ac¬ 
cepted. I can best present the testi¬ 
mony of Thomas by quoting St. John's 
account: 

“But Thomas, one of the twelve, called 
Didymus, was not with them when Je¬ 
sus came. 

“The other disciples therefore said 
unto him, We have seen the Lord. But 

51 




IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


he said unto them, Except I shall see 
in his hands the print of the nails, and 
put my finger into the print of the nails, 
and thrust my hand into his side, I will 
not believe. 

“And after eight days again his disci¬ 
ples were within, and Thomas with 
them: then came Jesus, the doors being 
shut, and stood in the midst, and said, 
Peace be unto you. 

“Then saith he to Thomas, Reach 
hither thy finger, and behold my hands; 
and reach hither thy hand, and thrust 
it into my side: and be not faithless, but 
believing. 


52 





ONLY TRUE RELIGION 


“And Thomas answered and said unto 
him, My Lord and my God. 

“Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, be¬ 
cause thou hast seen me, thou hast be¬ 
lieved: blessed are they that have not 
seen, and yet have believed. 

“And many other signs truly did Je¬ 
sus in the presence of his disciples, 
which are not written in this book: 

“But these are written, that ye might 
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son 
of God; and that believing ye might 
have life through his name.” (John 20: 
24-31.) 


53 




IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


Paul 

Those who are familiar with the his¬ 
tory of Paul know that he was an intel¬ 
lectual man, and was not given to hallu¬ 
cinations. He said that he had seen the 
risen Lord. 

Read Paul's own testimony: 

“For I delivered unto you first of all 
that which I also received, how that 
Christ died for our sins according to the 
Scriptures; 

“And that he was buried, and that he 
rose again the third day according to 
the Scriptures: 

“And that he was seen of Cephas, 
then of the twelve: 

54 


i 




ONLY TRUE RELIGION? 


“After that, he was seen of above five 
hundred brethren at once; of whom the 
greater part remain unto this present, 
but some are fallen asleep. 

“After that, he was seen of James; 
then of all the apostles. 

“And last of all he was seen of me 
also, as of one bom out of due time.” (1 
Cor. 15: 3-8.) 

More Than Five 
Hundred Brethren 

Paul tells us that five hundred breth- 
ren saw the risen Christ at one time. I 
was once entertaining about fifty chil¬ 
dren with magic tricks. When I under- 

55 




IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


took to conceal my methods in the pres¬ 
ence of so great a number, some of the 
number would usually catch on to the 
trick. Is it reasonable that more than 
five hundred people could have been de¬ 
ceived at one time? 

The Angel 

I have introduced witnesses from the 
various walks of life, but I feel a pro¬ 
found sense of reverence as I introduce 
a witness whose testimony we surely 

cannot doubt—one of God’s pure angels. 

I cannot adequately describe him. Let 
Matthew do it: 

“In the end of the sabbath, as it be- 


56 




ONLY TRUE RELIGION ? 
■.. . . . .. . . 

gan to dawn toward the first day of the 
week, came Mary Magdalene and the 
other Mary to see the sepulchre. 

“And behold there was a great earth¬ 
quake; for the angel of the Lord de¬ 
scended from heaven and came and 
rolled back the stone from the door and 
sat upon it. 

“His countenance was like light¬ 
ning and his raiment white as snow: 

“And for fear of him the keepers did 

shake and became as dead men. 

“And the angel answered and said 
unto the women, Fear not, ye: for I 
know that ye seek Jesus, which was cru¬ 
cified. 


57 




IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


“He is not here: for he is risen, as he 
said. Come, see the place where the 
Lord lay. 

“And go quickly, and tell his disciples 
that he is risen from the dead; and be¬ 
hold, he goeth before you into Galilee; 
there shall ye see him: lo, I have told 
you.” (Matt. 28: 1-7.) 

* 

4 

The Boldness of the Apostles 

The apostles were very positive in 
proclaiming the resurrection. Were 
they deceived ? No. Too many witness¬ 
es confirmed their testimony. You could 

not deceive so many people. Were 
they deceiving others by announcing a 

58 






ONLY TRUE RELIGION? 


resurrection which they knew never 
took place? No; they would not have 
worked and suffered as they did for one 
whom they knew to be an impostor. 
Then, if they were not deceived and 
were not deceiving others, their message 
must have been true, and Jesus must 
assuredly have arisen from the dead. 

We have considered the testimony of 
eye-witnesses who were positive that 
they had seen the risen Lord. 

Time of the Announcement 

Those who announced the resurrec¬ 
tion did not wait until years had passed 

59 




IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


before it was made known. The an¬ 
nouncement was made as soon as Jesus 
arose, so that any who were doubtful 
might have an opportunity to thorough¬ 
ly investigate before the circumstances 
had seriously changed. 

I quote James M. Gray, D.D., in “A 
Picture of the Resurrection,” published 
by the Fleming H. Revell Company: 

“It was a hundred years after Mo¬ 
hammed died before any miracles were 
claimed for him, and about as long after 
the death of Loyola, the founder of the 
Jesuits. Paganism was equally careful 
to affirm no wonders of its saints until 

i)d 




ONLY TRUE RELIGION? 


a sufficient period had elapsed to render 
the detection of a fraud impossible. But 

not so in the case of the resurrection of 
Jesus Christ.” 

Those to Whom 
It Was Announced 

\ v 

The announcement of the resurrection 
reached the ears of the most brilliant 

men of that age. If the announcement 
had been untrue, it seems that they 
could have proved it so. The announce¬ 
ment was not whispered into the ears of 
a select few, but both friends and ene¬ 
mies heard it; kings and peasants; Jews 
and Gentiles. None have been able to 
prove it false. 


61 




IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


Monumental Evidence 

In addition to the testimony of those 
who saw the risen Lord, we have the 
benefit of what we call Monumental 
Evidence, including every institution 
which commemorates the resurrection. 
Of these we would mention: 

The Christian Sabbath 

If Jesus did not rise from the dead, 

how is the change of the Sabbath from 
the seventh to the first day of the week 
to be explained? Some would have us 
believe that the change was made dur¬ 
ing the reign of Constantine. But his¬ 
torians who wrote many years before 

62 




ONLY TRUE RELIGION? 


\ 


Constantine became emperor, tell us of 
this change. Constantine did, in 321 
A. D., issue an edict, or, in other words, 
enacted a civil law similar to the laws of 
our own land, requiring the people of 
his realm to observe the first day. He 
simply based this law upon a practice 
which was already a custom of the 
church- 

The New Testament also indicates 

the observance of the first day. (See 
Acts 20: 7; 1 Cor. 16: 2, etc.) 

History 

Those who do not accept the Bible can 
learn from history that Jesus Christ 

-i 

63 





IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


arose from the dead, and that the ob¬ 
servance of the first day as Sabbath is 
a monument to that event. 

Barnabas, the historian, said: “We 
keep the eighth day with joy, on which 
day Jesus also arose from the dead; and 
having appeared, He ascended into 
heaven.” This was written not long 
after the apostolic days. 

Justin Martyr, in about 140 A. D., 
said: “On the day called Sunday there 
is a gathering in one place of all who 
reside either in the cities or country 
places, and memoirs of the apostles, and 
the writings of the prophets read. We 

64 




ONLY TRUE RELIGION? 


all assemble in common because it is the 
first day of the week, and because on 
the same day Jesus Christ our Saviour 
arose from the dead. We are circum¬ 
cised from sin and error through our 
Lord Jesus Christ, who rose from the 
dead on the first day of the week, there¬ 
fore, it remains the chief and first of 
all days.” 

Tertullian, of 200 A. D., said: “Sun¬ 
days we give to joy; we observe the day 
of the Lord's resurrection, free from 
every hindrance of anxiety and duty, 
laying aside our worldly business lest 
we give place to the devil.” 

Clement of Alexandria, of 194 A. D., 

65 





IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


said: “The old seventh day has become 
nothing more than a working day.” 

He also said: “A Christian, according 
to the command of the gospel, observes 
the Lord’s day, thereby glorifying the 
resurrection of the Lord.” 

Ignatius, of 101 A. D., said: “Let 
every one that loves Christ keep holy 
the Lord’s day—the queen of all days, 
the resurrection day, the highest of all 
days.” 

\ 

Theophilus, of the second century, 
said: “Both custom and reason challenge 
from us that we should honor the Lord’s 
day, seeing on that day it was that our 

66 


u i 

< i ( 





ONLY TRUE RELIGION? 


Lord Jesus completed His resurrection 
from the dead.” 

So we see that the resurrection of Je¬ 
sus is not only a Biblical fact, but it is 
a historical fact. 

Summary 

Now let us get the facts before us. 

1. We find that the superiority of 
Christianity can be established by close¬ 
ly comparing the fruits of Christianity 
with the fruits of heathen religions. 

2. Jesus Christ proposed to vindi¬ 
cate His claims (claims which excluded 
all competitive religions) by His resur¬ 
rection from the dead. 

67 




IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


3. His enemies accepted the chal¬ 
lenge. 

4. We find that He rose from the 
dead and met the terms of His proposi¬ 
tion. 

Conclusion 

Therefore, by all rules of reason, those 
who accepted His challenge, and all who 
appreciate evidence, should regard 
Christianity as THE ONLY TRUE RE¬ 
LIGION. 

Final Appeal 

To feel the power of such a conviction, 
and then refuse to send the gospel to 

68 





ONLY TRUE RELIGION? 


those who know it not, would be selfish. 

, Should we neglect the heathen simply 
because of their attitude of resistance? 
Certainly not! We should not assume 
an attitude of antagonism, but the mer¬ 
ciful attitude of our Lord; and of the 
anxious mother who tactfully and ten¬ 
derly convinces her resisting child of 
the importance of a necessary remedy. 

That the world is in need of a rem¬ 
edy for its condition of unrest is an ad¬ 
mitted fact. The best solution for 
world problems is to be found in the re¬ 
ligion of Jesus Christ, the world's Sa¬ 
viour, and in the practice of His prin¬ 
ciples. 


69 




IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


The story is told of the organ in the 
Cathedral at Strassburg: 

The old organist was idly strumming 

the keys. A stranger approached him 
and said: “Let me play that organ.” 
“You couldn't play this organ,” the old 
organist replied; “and I'm careful not to 
allow just anyone to tamper with this 
organ.” “Just let me try,” the stranger 
said. “It would be no use,” said the or¬ 
ganist; “you couldn't play so compli¬ 
cated an instrument.” The stranger 
begged for an opportunity to try. The 
old organist because of the importunity 
of the stranger, reluctantly yielded, say- 

70 




ONLY TRUE RELIGION? 


ing: “Well, if you just must, why, take 
this seat, place your fingers just here, 
and press the keys; you can try.” 

The stranger took his seat, and he did 
press those keys! Such music had 
never been heard in the old Cathedral 
before. The people did not know that 
the organ was capable of producing such 
tones. 

The old organist, in wonder and sur¬ 
prise, looked at the stranger and asked: 
“Who are you?” The stranger replied, 
“My name is Mendelssohn.” 

“Just to think!” exclaimed the organ- 

71 




IS CHRISTIANITY THE 


ist, “1 almost turned Mendelssohn 
away!” 

The world is turning Jesus away. He 
wept over the desolation of Jerusalem, 
and expressed His anxiety to help them. 
He is equally anxious to help the world 
today. No problem is too great for His 
infinite wisdom—no manual too compli¬ 
cated for His skilful hand. 

He can turn discord into harmony, 
and make the music of life wonderful, 

if His master hand is allowed to sweep 
the keys. 


Tell it! Tell it! until the conflicting 

72 




f 


ONLY TRUE RELIGION? 


voices of the wide world are led to har¬ 
monize in one mighty chorus: 

“All hail the power of Jesus' name! 
Let angels prostrate fall! 

Bring forth the royal diadem 
And crown Him Lord of all!” 


73 




“THE MYSTERIES OF RELIGION 
SIMPLIFIED” 

This is a special series by James M. 
McLeskey, presenting evidence to vindi¬ 
cate the reasonableness of the claims of 
Christianity. The subjects are as fol¬ 
lows : 

1. Is There a God, Who Existed Before 

the Beginning? 

2. Why Are We Not Permitted to Lit¬ 

erally See God’s Face and 
Hear His Voice in This Life, 
Rather Than Commune with Him 
Through Prayer and Faith ? 

3. Why Was It Necessary for Christ to 

Die in Order That We Be Saved ? 

4. If the Bible Teaches the Way of 

Life, Why Such Difference of In- 



terpretation ? 

5. How May We Know That the Bible 

Is Genuine? 

6. How May We Know That the Bible 

Is Inspired? 

7. Are the Scriptures Scientific? 

8. Alleged Errors and Contradictions 

in the Bible. 

9. Why Not Miracles Today as in the 

Days of the Apostles? 

10. The Deity of Christ. 

11. Is Christianity the Only True Reli¬ 

gion? 

12. The Psychology of Religious Doubts 

and Fears. 


13. Immortality. 



% 















Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: August 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

111 Thomson Park Dnve 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724) 779-2111 








































































